excerpt from 'The Life of Thomas Cooper, Written by Himself' pp. 83–84 (307 words)
excerpt from 'The Life of Thomas Cooper, Written by Himself' pp. 83–84 (307 words)
| part of | |
|---|---|
| original language | |
| in pages | 83–84 |
| type | |
| encoded value |
[In 1829, Thomas Cooper experienced a religious awakening] [T]he earnestness of my prayers for holiness soon raised a flame around me. Others began to pray for holiness. And then, in company with a few earnest young men, I began to meet once a week in the house of a female class-leader who for many years had been noted for fervid devotion. I read Bramwell [James Sigston’s Life of William Bramwell] on my knees by three in the morning. I was swallowed up with the one thought of reaching “perfect love,”―of living without sin―of feeling I was always and fully in God’s favour. I prayed for it―we all prayed for it―at the weekly meeting we held in the house of the devoted woman I spoke of. One night we had sung “Wrestling Jacob,” the hymn which has so often been styled the masterpiece in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, commencing― “Come, O thou traveller unknown.” We had all sung the hymn with wrapt [sic] fervour, but I had sung one verse with an earnestness of feeling, and an agony of resolve, that I think I never sang another verse with in all my life― “In vain Thou strugglest to get free― We sang over and over again, on our knees, “Wrestling I will not let Thee go!”―till at last I sprang upon my feet, crying, “I will believe! I do believe!” and the very saying of the words, with all the strength of resolve, seemed to lift me above the earth. And I kept on believing, according to the lesson I had learned in the Life of Bramwell. |
| appears in search results as | excerpt from 'The Life of Thomas Cooper, Written by Himself' pp. 83–84 (307 words) |
| reported in source | |
|---|---|
| documented in |